


Settling In

by KatsInSpace



Series: Soulmates [2]
Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-22 17:23:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14313555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatsInSpace/pseuds/KatsInSpace
Summary: Bryce returns from his mission, and as promised, they go look for a new place to stay.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoilers for late season 1, mentions of casey/ilsa

For the moment, Bryce was staying in a hotel until they decided on a place to stay. 

“Wait,” Chuck says, staring at Bryce who had a laptop open and a few newspapers scattered next to him. Chuck takes a seat next to him, peering at the screen. “They’re actually letting you decide on where to stay?”

“Letting  _ us _ ,” Bryce corrected. “And of course Sarah and Casey still need to okay it, but for the most part, yes.”

Chuck skimmed the newspapers, looking at everything Bryce was looking at. “What did you find so far?” 

“Not much,” Bryce says, going back to the laptop. “I barely just started. Come take a look.” 

Chuck looked at the screen, scooting his chair closer to him. 

“Was there anything specific you wanted?” Bryce asks him. “We’re going to be staying there for awhile and it should be something we are both comfortable with.”

“I don’t know,” Chuck said unsurely, trying to think up of something. “The location I guess. I don’t want to be too far from Ellie or the Buy More.”

“So that, a more private area, and price,” Bryce mutters to himself, taking notes. “Anything else?”

Chuck shrugged. “I’m pretty open to stuff. I would rather see the places first.”

“Two bedrooms, two bathrooms okay?” 

Chuck frowned a little, trying to think why Bryce would need two bedrooms. Could be one for them and the other for guests? Or one to store all their spy stuff.- then again that would be pretty obvious.  “Two bedrooms?” He questioned.

“Yeah,” Bryce said as if it were obvious, glancing at him. “One for me, one for you.” He looks back at the screen, looking over everything. “How about this one?”

Chuck goes quiet, jaw clenching with a heavy feeling in his chest. He didn’t know why he was expecting them to be sharing a room, but he's disappointed to hear that. 

“Chuck?” Bryce looks up at him, frowning a little. He always knew how to read him. “Something wrong?”

Chuck shakes his head, quickly denying it. He didn’t want bryce knowing why. “No, nothing,” Chuck didn’t look at him, just kept looking at the screen. “It looks fine to me.” Truth be told, he didn’t actually look it over. “Is it close to any grocery stores?”

“Seriously Chuck,” Bryce says firmly, trying to get his attention. “I know something is bothering you. Now what’s wrong? Did the government go too far in making us fiancés? Because I can talk to them if that’s what’s bothering you.”

“No! No, no,” Chuck said a bit too quickly. “I don’t mind us being engaged, that’s not what’s bothering me.” Chuck pauses, breathing in to calm himself down. “I just,” he hesitated. “Is separate rooms really a good idea?” And he’s not just saying that because he wanted to share a bed with Bryce. There  _ was _ a legitimate reason for his process of thinking.

“How is that a problem? I would have thought you wanted to sleep in your own bed.” Bryce stared at him, slightly confused. 

“Well, what if someone came over and saw that we were living in separate rooms? It wouldn’t be good.”

“You have a point Chuck, but no one else other than your sister, Morgan, and Devon will be coming over. And we don’t need to hold the cover in front of Sarah and Casey.”

“What if they start asking questions though?” He asked him softly. He hated lying to them enough as it is, but having them barrage him with even more questions might break him.

“I’m only considering two separate rooms for you, Chuck,” Bryce pointed out. “If you’re comfortable with sharing a bed with me, then I’d be okay with it too.”

“I am!” Chuck flushes red, realizing he answered too quickly.

“Eager to get me into bed?” Bryce said playfully, giving a small smirk.

Chuck flushed red at Bryce’s words. “Wha- no!” He quickly denied. “I mean, it won’t be that different from Stanford. This time though, we’ll be using the same bed, and we’ve already done that before too.” 

“If you say so,” Bryce looked back at the screen, a smirk still on his face. “That widens our search to a lot more. Although, having a guest room might be good too.”

-.-

It took them a few days to exhaust all the “for sale” listings by narrowing them all down to the ones that had the basics of what they required. Then both of them had to look at each listing to see if it was up to par. After that, there wasn’t much left but they both need to be at the actual location to see if it is a good place or not.

“It looks a lot smaller in person,” Chuck noted, staring at the small house.

Bryce just shrugged. “We don’t need a lot of space, do we?” He followed the realtor in for the tour, Chuck trailing behind him. Chuck looks around, half listening to them and half thinking about what it would be like to live there with Bryce. 

When the tour is over, all Chuck could think about is that he couldn’t see a future for them there.

“What do you think?”

Chuck shakes his head, answering with no hesitation. “No, it’s not a good place.”

-.-

“I know it's not ideal,” Bryce tells Chuck a few days after seeing their first tour. “But the director wants me out for a mission. It might take a few weeks.”

Chuck was disappointed to hear it, but he knew Bryce couldn’t help it. He knew this would happen eventually, so he really should not have been disappointed. 

“Continue narrowing the list for me, alright?”

“But what if I screw up?” Chuck asked, worried that he will mess up. “What if I don’t do it right?”

“I trust you,” Bryce says softly. “You know me and what I would like. I know you can do this.” 

Chuck sighs. He really was nervous about having the responsibility being put on him, but if Bryce said he could, then he could do it. “I’ll do my best.” 

-.-

After rechecking the list that he and Bryce had made, Chuck quickly realized that there was almost twenty on the list. Maybe even more.

Chuck sighs, realizing that he had a lot of places to visit. Maybe he could narrow it down some more by checking each listing again? He glances over at his clock.

After work of course.

-.-

Chuck sighs to himself, standing at the Nerd Herd by himself. Bryce has been gone for a few days already but he still misses him. It was a slow day too so he didn’t have much to do besides mope around, missing Bryce while Morgan was off helping customers.

Chuck took a quick scan around the store again, trying to see if there was something to do. He stops, frowning a little as he seems a customer berating Casey.

“How are they not dead yet?” Chuck stares in amazement. He quickly realizes though, that Casey was frozen, staring at what looked like a camera in his hands, not reacting to the customer at all.

Chuck makes his way over, trying to see what was wrong with him. “Casey?” The other man didn’t reply.

Chuck helps the customer, relieving them of their frustration, now attempting to get Casey’s attention once again.

Casey snaps out of it, shoving the camera into his hands and storms off. Chuck shrugs at his odd behavior and moves on.

-.-

Chuck finds out about Ilsa, an old flame of Casey’s, and rather violently, gets reprimanded for it. 

Their next mission is in a hotel about someone in the Russian mob. 

They find her there too.

Chuck doesn't get the chance to hear what she and Casey are talking about, having been pulled into the dance with Sarah by the attendees. 

They mistake his desperation to get away for interest in her. So they pulled her into the dance too. When they manage to get away, Ilsa is long gone, Casey too.

All Chuck could think about is how he would have loved to dance with Sarah before. But now, it didn’t settle right with him now that he knew about Bryce.

-.-

Chuck drops by Casey’s, wanting to check up on him. He finds him half drunk, still partially dressed in the clothes from earlier

Chuck approaches him, wary of the half drunken man with another bottle of alcohol in his hand, his shirt unbuttoned. When he’s close, he sees a bird on his chest.

“You have a soulmark?” Chuck had been half expecting for Casey to not have one. It would have reflected him well.

Although it would made sense for the usually military-like man to break down enough to get even  _ slightly _ drunk if it was because his soulmate didn’t want him. Chuck would surely have been upset if Bryce didn’t want him back.

“Yup,” Casey takes another swig of his drink.

“Was she your soulmate?”

“Nope.”

Well then. Chuck didn’t know what the problem was if it wasn't that. He’s still not sure if he can see Casey as someone who would want to be in a relationship. 

Chuck takes a step closer. “What happened with Ilsa?” He asked curiously, not really expecting Casey to answer. Then again, he’s half drunk and had answered his other questions. 

“She's engaged to the leader of the group.”

Chuck’s eyes widen. “What?” He asked, sounding shocked. “That’s not good Casey! You have to stop her!”

Casey grunted, not bothering to reply as he stared blankly. 

Chuck stared at him, realizing that he must have been really in love with her to be acting like this. That, or just really drunk.

“She’s about to marry someone in the  _ mob _ , Casey,” he says, trying to get him to move. And he thought that even Casey deserved some love. “You have to do something! You can’t just give up on her.”

Casey actually seemed to be thinking about, but he still didn’t move.

“She could  _ die, _ Casey.”

That seemed to convince him.

-.-

Chuck watched from his room, trying to see what would happen between Casey and Ilsa. After they dealt with everything, Ilsa was safe and they could finally have their reunion.

Chuck might have thought that Casey and love didn’t match, but after finding out Bryce was his soulmate and that Casey genuinely liked Ilsa, he believed more and more that it could happen. 

Casey might be rough around the edges but even he deserved love. So he wanted to see if it would end well.

Although, he couldn't read lips so he had no clue what they were saying. And both of them being stoic spies slash soldiers really didn’t help either.

When Ilsa leaves, Casey just stands there, watching after her. That is when he decides he could approach him. Chuck climbs out of his window, walking to Casey. “So how’d it go?”

Casey stared at him with a hard gaze. “Like you don’t know.”

“Looked a lot like her walking away and no chasing after her,” Chuck noted. 

Casey breathed out and shook his head. “No Chuck, none of that is going to happen. We both have a mission to do and we’re both too dedicated to let something as primal as emotions get in the way of that.”

Chuck stared at him. It looked like he was wrong about Casey, maybe he didn’t want a relationship after all. “Why not?” 

“Emotions are too messy, they just get in the way of things,” he stops, giving him a firm gaze before he turns and leaves. 

-.-

After everything that happened recently, he hadn’t been able to cut down on the list lately. And from what he had seen when he  _ was _ able to, none of them really had any deciding factors that would make him want to drop it.

So, he’d have to go there himself and take a look at it. 

“ _ This _ is what you’ve been up to?” 

Chuck jumps at the voice. He turns, seeing Morgan leaning over as he squinted at the screen.

“Why are you looking at houses?” Morgan leaned away in favor of looking at him suspiciously. “And booking  _ tours _ no less!” 

“I uh,” Chuck quickly tries to think up of something to say. “Just wishful thinking,” he claims. “I always wondered what it would be like to live in a house instead of an apartment, you know?”

Morgan was a quiet for a moment. “Right,” he says, genuinely believing Chuck’s lie. “I’ve almost forgotten that you’ve lived here all your life.”

Chuck nods, giving a half shrug as he shuts the screen off to pull attention away from it. “A man could dream.” 

-.-

Before Chuck heads off to that house tour, Awesome stops him before he gets into his car. 

“Have you been following me?” Chuck stared at him with a confused expression.

“Listen Chuck,” Awesome looked very on edge, glancing everywhere. “I need to tell you something alright?”

“Um, okay?”

“You know I love your sister right? That I’d do anything for her, and go to-”

“Yes I know,” Chuck cuts him off, knowing he wouldn't stop babbling if he hadn’t stopped him. “What happened?”

“I want to propose to her.”

Chuck stared at him for a moment before a big smile broke onto his face. “That's awesome, Awesome! But what’s wrong?” 

“I need you to hold this ring for me,” he held it it. “She has a great sense for this kinda stuff and I want it to be a surprise. Can you do this for me?”

“Yeah of course I can.”

“You’re a lifesaver dude! I owe you one.”

-.-

Chuck stared at the ring in his hand before tucking it away in his wallet for a moment. He kept a note to himself to find a place to keep it, most likely Bryce’s temporary hotel room. 

He gets out of the car, locking it before  heading off for that house tour. 

“You must be Chuck!” The realtor greeted with a smile. “Is it just you?”

“Yes, hi, I’m Chuck,” he greeted. “And no, it’s not just for me, but my partner is currently away on business.”

“Let’s get started on this tour, shall we?” The realtor said with a smile. “Is there anything you would like to know first, before we begin?” 

“How’s uh, how’s the neighborhood?” He asked, because he knows Bryce would say security is number one before anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoilers for early season 2, canonical character death

_ “This could be the last time you would ever have to work for the government.” _

Chuck always has that in mind as he strives to get that cipher from their enemies. They’re ruthless and it’s dangerous, but it’d be so worth it. He’d have his normal, safe life back. 

And most of all, he and Bryce could do their relationship for  _ real _ and not because of a cover. 

“Good job Bartowski.” Well, Casey doesn’t straight up say it but he certainly implies it as he holds the cipher in his hands.

Chuck smiles widely. Not because of the compliment but at the thought of  _ finally  _ going on real dates with Bryce.

-.-

Chuck doesn’t trash the listings he was looking at, but just stores it away for the meantime. He’s not going to need it anytime soon anyway.

Instead, during the times he’s usually looking up the tours and listings, he practices talking to himself in a mirror.

“Will you go out with- no, no,” Chuck frowned, shaking his head at what he was about to say. “Too plain.” 

He breathes in for another try. “Listen, Bryce, I know you don't have a reason to stay here anymore, but-  _ that _ just sounds pathetic.” Chuck sighs, trying to think of what to say.

Chuck’s eyes glance over himself. He scrunches up his nose at himself. “I’m such a mess,” he fixes his shirt and pants. “I can’t ask him out looking like a slob.” He adjusts his shirt again, fiddling with his hair once again. “Better,” he tells himself, smiling at himself. 

Chuck looked back at himself once again. “I think.” He paused. “On second thought, maybe a different shirt would work? What would Bryce think be good,” he trials off, wandering to his closet to skim through his shirts. 

As Chuck skims through his shirts, his hand bumps up against a small box. It makes a louder thud than expected but quickly brushes it off. He bends over to pick it up, scanning the few contents that had fallen out. 

Chuck quickly shoved the books and papers back inside before placing it back on the shelf. 

“Chuck?” 

Chuck stops, hearing Sarah call his name out. He exits his closet, calling back to her, “In my room!” 

Once Chuck is back in his room, he sees Sarah standing there with a solemn look. He immediately has a bad feeling. “What happened?” 

“The cipher,” she says hesitantly. “It was a fake. The intersect exploded as soon as it was turned on.”

Chuck stares in horror.

“Director Graham is dead, Chuck,” she tells him. 

“The director is dead?” He says softly.

Sarah nods. “And the general still wants you under protection. I’m sorry Chuck, but you can't go back to your civilian lifestyle.”

-.-

Chuck’s disappointed, but he’s not sure why he expected more.

-.-

“It’s suspected that Sasha Banachek has it.”

Chuck flashes on her name, knowing everything about her before Sarah finishes her sentence. “The Black Widow?” 

Sarah nods. 

“Why would she have it?” 

“Who knows?” Sarah said. “Could be for her own use or to sell it off for money.”

-.-

Chuck sat uncomfortably. They were telling him that he was going to have to flirt his way to the cipher. And that was the only way, according to Roan Montgomery, the only spy who managed to get her in jail for seven years. 

“Do- do I have to?” Chuck asked softly. 

“Larkin won’t mind,” Casey taunted a bit.

Sarah scowls at Casey before turning to Chuck. “He says it’s the only way, and we need that cipher.”

Chuck knows that he can’t argue his way out of it. If the government says there’s no way, there really is no way.

-.-

Chuck finds out about Bryce’s return when he gets a phone call in the middle of the night.

Chuck feels groggy, sleepily trying to find his phone in the darkness as he keeps his eyes squeezed shut. He doesn’t look at the name but answers anyway. “‘llo?” He mumbled. 

“I know it’s late, but think you can meet me?”

Chuck is immediately wide awake when he hears Bryce’s voice. He’s sitting up on his bed, phone to his ear. “You mean your room? When’d you get back?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” he says. “So can you meet me? Preferably without Casey or your sister knowing?”

Chuck doesn’t bother to question why and immediately says yes.

“And bring your nerd herd uniform.”

-.-

A little while later, Chuck is at the hotel Bryce is staying at. He parks the car and heads up the elevator to Bryce’s floor. He pulls out his key and goes inside. 

“Bryce?” He called out. He eyes the table set up with food and continues searching the room. Chuck sees him by the bed. 

Bryce stands, grinning at him as he held up a bottle of wine. “I thought we could have that first date.”

Chuck stared at him. “But we don’t have to pretend in front of anyone?”

Bryce sighs, setting the bottle down on the table and walked toward him. “This is for  _ us _ Chuck,” he says. “We  _ are _ soulmates after all.” He tugs on his wrist, leading him to the set table. “Come join me.”

Chuck followed him to the table, taking a seat. “Is there uh, any reason for this?”

“I wanted our first date to be real, and not just because they told us to.”

Chuck’s mouth gaped in shock. He hadn’t expected for Bryce to actually be this insistent in their relationship too. Sure he had kissed him back, but a relationship? Those two are completely different things. 

“O-okay,” he stuttered. Cheeks tinged red. 

-.-

“Why’d you have me bring my Nerd Herd uniform?” Chuck asked with a yawn. After their meal and a glass or two of wine, they were watching one of the late night shows. 

“To stay the night,” Bryce said. 

Chuck is immediately fully aware, thinking over what he said. “Uh, what?”

“It’s almost 3 in the morning, I doubt you would want to go back to your apartment and get ready.”

“Oh.” Chuck paused. “I only brought my uniform,” he frowned a little, looking down at his clothes. 

“I can try find something but I think it might be a little small for you.” Bryce got up and started to search through his suitcase. “Then you can just shower here.”

Bryce pulled out a shirt and some pants. He held it up against him. “Think you can fit this?”

Chuck grabbed it from him, trying to see it would fit. “The pants will but the shirt might not.”

Bryce shrugged, grabbing it from him. “It's just for the night.”

“Uh.” Chuck stared after him nervously as Bryce put it away. “Yeah, sure.” 

“It’s late,” he pulled his shirt off and picked up a tank top and some shorts. “We should probably get to sleep.” 

Chuck looked away as Bryce changed his pants. 

-.-

“Hey, dude!”

Chuck looked up at, seeing Morgan approach him. “Hey Morgan.”

“Where were you this morning? I went by your place earlier but Ellie said you had already left.”

“Um,” Chuck quickly tried to come up with an excuse without mentioning Bryce at all. “Just felt like getting here early today, you know?”

“But she said she didn’t even see you leave?”

“I bought breakfast too.” Which isn’t really a lie, he and Bryce  _ had _ bought breakfast at the hotel, it’s just that Bryce bought it, not him.

“Oh!” He says in an understanding tone. “Well you should let Ellie know, she was worried about you.”

“I’ll call her when I can.”

“Actually-” Morgan trailed off, glancing to the side. “She’s kind of already here?” 

Chuck glances at the door, seeing his sister walking straight in with a worried look on her face. “Uh,” he said dumbly, moving from behind the counter and making his way toward her. “Hey Ellie, what are you doing here?”

“When I checked your room this morning Chuck, you weren’t there. We were worried about you.”

“Sorry Ellie, I left early today to get some breakfast.”

“You could have just eaten at home or let us know.”

“I’m sorry,” he genuinely says. He hadn't realized he’d worry them this much. “I’ll let you know next time.”

“You better.”

-.- 

“So the Intersect upgrade chip?” Chuck asks again. “That’s what you’re after now?”

“Yes, and Von Hayes, an English software engineer was hired to to decrypt it,” Bryce explains. 

“Hayes is having a party and that shall be your way in,” the General explained. “Bartowski will be posing as a waiter, flashing on the chip’s location. Agent Larkin and Agent Walker will pose as a couple to look for the chip. Major Casey will be back up. Understood?”

“But-” Chuck starts to argue. 

“No questions asked,” the General interrupted before ending the call.

-.-

“Sarah tells me you two aren’t in a relationship anymore.”

Chuck looks up at Ellie from his bed. After almost getting taken hostage -  _ again _ \- by someone, he really just wanted to rest (and he really doesn’t appreciate that thing Bryce did with the sunglasses either). 

“How long were you two broken up?” 

“A few months,” he confessed. He had completely forgotten that Ellie might still have thought they were still together. “I would have told you but it completely slipped my mind.”

“She also told me something else.” She paused, looking at him. “Chuck, I had to find out about your boyfriend from  _ Sarah _ .”

Chuck gave a sheepish smile. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“No, I’m not. But I  _ do _ want to meet the man that got your attention.”

“He uh, he actually travels a lot,” Chuck says vaguely. “We only met because he used to be Sarah’s old work acquaintance.”

“Well, next time he’s here, tell him I want to meet him.” She stands, leaving his room. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoilers for mid season 2, mention of Chuck/Jill

“Chuck, you’re needed on-site for a biotechnological conference at a nearby hotel.”

Chuck didn’t know that line was going to set off a whole bunch of unwanted events and a guest star in his life from his past, specifically an ex named Jill Roberts. 

They ended it after about a year of friendship and a year of dating when he realized that he had thoughts of his roommate instead of his then girlfriend. Things became pretty awkward between them. 

“Uh hey Jill,” Chuck have an awkward smile,  climbing it from underneath the table. He tried avoiding her by hiding there but it hadn't worked. “How uh, how’s it going?”

“Fine, it’s been just fine,” she answered calmly. “You’re the technical support?”

“Uh yeah.” 

“Jill.”

They both look. When Chuck sees the man, he flashes. 

Guy Lafleur.

-.-

“Bryce says you flashed?”

Chuck, Bryce, Sarah, and Casey had gathered after he had told Bryce of his flash. They contacted Beckman and informed her of it. 

“Reconnect with miss Roberts,” she ordered. “Find out what she knows and if she is involved.” She hangs up, not letting Chuck comment on it.

“Do I have to? Jill and I didn’t exactly break up on a good note,” Chuck said nervously.

“If your  _ relationship _ is what you’re worried about, Larkin knows not to let emotions get in the way of missions,” Casey tells him. “ _ Right? _ ” He says none too friendly. 

Chuck looks at Bryce.

“Casey’s right Chuck,” he says, looking and acting as if he was fine with it. But Chuck knows him very well. He doesn’t think Sarah and Casey notice, but Chuck could tell Bryce doesn’t like it. “There’s lives at risk here, we need to find out what she knows.”

-.-

“You’re not upset, are you?”

Chuck gazed at Bryce, trying to look through his mask and see how he actually felt. He was quiet the entire night, wearing a firm expression, and Chuck had a feeling there was something wrong.

“There’s no reason I should be upset, Chuck.” There wasn’t a change in his expression.

“That doesn’t mean that you aren’t upset.”

Bryce sighs. “I didn’t like what happened today, alright? With Jill and Casey.”

“Oh,” Chuck says. “Well, just know I don’t have any feelings for them. And they government made me reconnect with Jill, and I really thought that would help save him!”

“I know that Chuck,” Bryce says softly. “I just can’t help but feel a little jealous, alright?”

Chuck doesn’t say anything. Instead, he moves closer to Bryce, leaning into him. Bryce exhales, bringing his arm around Chuck. “Well don’t be,” Chuck says. “I’m here with you and there’s no other place I’d rather be.”

-.- 

“Ellie wants to meet you.”

“Your sister?” He asked cautiously.

“Is there any other Ellie I know?”

Bryce nodded. “It might not be a good idea Chuck,” he says. “Morgan almost recognized me and knowing Ellie, she might actually recognize me.”

“What Ellie wants, she’ll get,” Chuck stated. “There's no way out of this.”

“Alright,” Bryce says. “Then we’ll have to do something so they won’t recognize me.”

“I told her that you traveled a lot and that you used to work with Sarah,” Chuck tells him. He paused. “Maybe hair dye?”

Bryce thought it over. “That might not work, Chuck,” he says. “We just might have to establish something vague enough to convince them. I already told Morgan that I went to Penn state university, so we can start with that.”

“We met through Sarah a few months ago,” Chuck started. “And started to date how? And kept it up through phone calls and emails.”

“I asked you out,” Bryce says. “Since it would be a bit weird for you to ask someone out directly after breaking up with someone.”

“First date?” 

“Our actual first date, a dinner under the moonlight and a tv show marathon. And we don’t have to make up my personality, they don’t know me that well enough.”

“Alright then. When can we do dinner? Both Ellie and Awesome would want to meet you for a long night.”

“Any day should be good.”

-.-

“I can’t wait to meet this mysterious boyfriend of yours, Chuck,” Ellie commented. 

“I think you’ll like him,” Chuck says, inwardly hoping it would be actually true. “Pretty sure he and Awesome would get along as well.”

“Think he’d be into extreme river rafting? I’d been looking for a partner to go with me.”

“Maybe,” Chuck wasn’t actually sure if Bryce would like that. He was a spy so he’d be able to handle it, but enjoy it? He wasn’t so sure. “You could ask him.”

Chuck soon hears a knock, immediately knowing that it’s Bryce. “I’ll get it.” He opens the door, seeing Bryce standing there with a box of pastries in hand, wearing a business suit minus the jacket and tie. 

“What are you wearing?” Chuck blurted out. He soon realizes his mistake but Bryce immediately cut in.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t change,” Bryce claims.

Chuck steps aside, letting him in, pondering his sentence. He’s  confused at first because Bryce doesn’t wear suits.

“I just came from a meeting and didn’t have time to go back to my place to shower and change into something more appropriate.” 

Chuck soon realizes that this was probably part of his cover. 

“I must look like a mess,” Bryce gave half a smile, wearing a slightly embarrassed look on his face. 

“Nonsense, you look just fine,” Ellie says. 

“I remember Chuck mentioning these pastries you two liked and I decided to bring some,” he offers.

“Thank you,” she says, taking the box from him. “But you didn't have to go so far for these.”

“It’s no problem at all, it was around where I had my meeting.”

“I’m Ellie by the way,” she greeted. “And this is my fiancé, Devon.”

“It’s Awesome to meet you,” he said with a smile, taking his hand in a firm handshake.

“Bruce Langston,” he greeted, returning the firm grip.

“Bruce, huh?” Devon said. “Funny, you don’t look like a Bruce.” He ends the handshake. 

“I get that a lot.”

-.-

“So where are you staying, Bruce?” Ellie asked him once they were all settled at the dining table with their dinners, well into their conversation. 

“I actually live pretty far away,” Bryce says. “I was planning on moving somewhere closer to Chuck. And maybe-” he hesitates, as if it’s the first time ever bringing it up. “Have him move in with me?”

Ellie looked shocked, so did Awesome. “Isn’t that moving a bit fast?” 

“Chuck and I talked it over,” Bryce says as he looks at him. His eyes said that he wanted Chuck to finish so it didn’t seem like it was one-sided.

“I know it’s a bit fast Ellie,” Chuck says. “But I don’t get to spend much time with him. I want to be there when he gets back from his trips,” “to come home to” was unspoken. “And I-” Chuck hesitated, getting a little nervous, because this was all true. “I want to be able to wake up next him.” 

“Well,” Ellie says slowly. “You two are both consenting adults and I can’t really stop you.”

“You’d be okay with it?” Chuck asked her with a surprised look. 

“As long as you two are sure about this, then I am.”

“Have you two found a place yet?” Awesome asked. 

“Not yet,” Bryce answers.

“Well, the tenants next door are just about to move out,” Awesome says. “Maybe you can go see the building owner about that.”

-.-

“We really lucked out with this apartment,” Chuck noted as he moved in the last box of things into their new place. “This place is perfect!” Chuck exclaimed. “It’s near Ellie and the Buy More!”

“And Casey’s just across the courtyard,” Bryce adds. “It’s fairly safe.”

“Oh right, that too.” 

Bryce chuckled. “I’ll make sure to tell him of your enthusiasm.”

“Is that all you really have?” Chuck asked, staring at his suitcase. 

“I have more in storage,” Bryce says. “Since this will be my permanent residence from now on, I can start taking them out moving them into here.”

Chuck paused, staring around the living room of their new apartment. “You know, I don’t think we have a picture of us together yet. Just us.”

“We can take that now.”


End file.
